Review: Main Street Sushi, HMB

On Saturday, my partner and I found ourselves on Main Street in Half Moon Bay wondering where to have lunch. A small black sign nailed beneath the sign for Mill Street said, simply, Sushi restaurant with an arrow. We turned left and found ourselves in front of an ornate carved wooden façade topped by a sign reading Main Street Sushi. Inside, more carved wood decorated the walls, the table tops were made of rough-hewn stone, and the sushi bar was inlaid with earthtoned tiles making the atmosphere sophisticated and soothing.

Although there were many empty tables, we were strangely directed to a table tucked in a back corner behind a long table of noisy NASCAR fans (I wish I was making this up). The table was by a second front door that mirrored the door by which we had entered across a small U-shaped porch. We were so thoroughly buried behind the larger table that the waitress came out the main door, walked out of the restaurant and opened the second door, all in order to get to our table to take our order and serve us. Despite the awkward placement, the service was friendly and mostly prompt, though we did have to get up to pay the bill when we were ready to leave and had an engagement to get to.

The sushi menu had all of the usual suspects, and some creative rolls as well. We tried the following:

Wild mushroom: served with radish sprouts and shiso leaves, which gave a nice bite to complement the earthiness of the mushrooms

Muy bonito: seared bonito with shiso leaves and pickled ginger. The bonito had just barely kissed a very hot pan long enough to color the outside but leave the inside delectably pink and silky. The menu said fresh ginger, which was really why I ordered this roll. I was disappointed, but it was still tasty.

Hot tuna: My partner ordered this one because she doesnt like raw fish. I cant get with cooked tuna anywhere outside of a can. Plus it tasted like it had mayonnaise in it, which I cant stand in my sushi.

Spider roll: passable, though I have been spoiled by Sachios spider rolls at Kabuto.

Oaxaca: seared jalapeno, avocado, tomato, and cilantro. Weird, but oddly it worked for me.

One general complaint was that the rice was bland, and there was too much of it in most of the rolls so that the ingredients were a bit lost in it.

In addition to sushi, the menu had some fish, beef, chicken and pork entrees, donburi, cold and hot soba, tempura, lots of appetizers like gomae and seaweed salad, and clay pot noodle house specials.

All in all, it was a solid meal and there were enough interesting options on the menu that I will definitely return on my next trip to HMB (and try more of the fish, which I suspect based on the treatment of the bonito is a strong suit). Our meal was also quite reasonable, (The above rolls, plus seaweed salad came to $28) It is a good addition to an otherwise pretty bleak strip of tourist shops and tourist food.